


In Any Universe

by Unclesteeb



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, College, M/M, Multiverse, Soulmates, a little pretentious, fun with universes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-01
Updated: 2016-07-01
Packaged: 2018-07-19 08:35:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,547
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7353700
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Unclesteeb/pseuds/Unclesteeb
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They say that there’s a multitude of parallel universes out there. That somewhere in some dimension there's a carbon copy of you. Someone with your name and your face exists with a completely different life than yours. They say that every universe could be altered by the simplest thing; an invention, a birth, a death, even taking a slightly different run than your normal route. They also say, that while you may be different in every universe, your story is similar. It runs parallel to the one you have now.</p>
            </blockquote>





	In Any Universe

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PrettyInSoulPunk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrettyInSoulPunk/gifts).



> Here's 2k of completely self-indulgent nonsense.
> 
> Written for my bud prettyinsoulpunk for her birthday!

The first time it happens Sam’s riding the EL back to his dorm late on Sunday night. He's just leaving dinner from his mom’s house. He's bone-tired from a long day of good food and family. Maybe that's why he doesn't notice the man in front of him until he's literally crashed into him.

“Oh my god! I'm sorry!” Sam says frantically. He's knocked the man’s messenger bag on the floor and papers have flown everywhere. Sam bends over and starts to pick them up. 

They say that there’s a multitude of parallel universes out there. That somewhere in some dimension there's a carbon copy of you. Someone with your name and your face exists with a completely different life than yours. They say that every universe could be altered by the simplest thing; an invention, a birth, a death, even taking a slightly different run than your normal route. They also say, that while you may be different in every universe, your story is similar. It runs parallel to the one you have now. 

Sam looks up and meets the guy’s eyes who he's just bumped into.

There's a universe somewhere; intertwined with space and time where Samuel Wilson and James Barnes are superheroes, avengers. Where Sam flies like a bird in the sky and Bucky is a man out of time with a metal arm and a past straight out of hell. They meet with a common purpose and a common friend. They fight each other and together. They manage to fall in love anyway. This isn't that one.

The guy’s eyes are blue, so light they're almost grey. They make Sam’s breath catch in his throat.

“It's okay! Really.” The man says. He's scrambling to pick up the rest of his stuff. Sam’s still staring at him like an idiot. He's beautiful. He has long, dark hair that frames his face. His lips are full and bow in just the right way. He's got a little scuff that almost obscures the dimple in his chin from where he hasn't shaved in a few days.

Sam gathers his breath and manages to speak again. “I really am sorry. I don't normally bump into people on the EL. I promise.” He tries to offer a smile that the guy returns quickly. 

“I'll take your word for it then.” The guy says as he slings his messenger bag back over his shoulder. The train car slides and skids to a stop. The guy moves closer to the door, this must be his stop. He turns and offers Sam another small smile. “See you around.” And Sam’s mouth opens to tell him, “Wait!” because his heart is thumping in his chest with the need to not let this guy go but before he can get the word out the guy steps off and on to the platform below. The doors close and the train car whooshes and rocks itself back to life while Sam is still staring where the guy last stood, feeling a whole lot more tired than he was before.

It's really late when Sam gets back to his dorm. His roommate’s already asleep so Sam creeps quietly and settles himself in. 

It's even later when Sam finally allows himself to think of the guy he bumped into earlier again. He lets the guy’s face overtake his mind. He hears the guy’s low, rough voice in his ears. He feels his heart skip a beat when he considers that he will probably never see the man again. There was something so intense, so familiar about the man. It truly makes Sam nervous. The feeling that the entire situation earlier was supposed to turn out differently aches deep in his chest. 

He falls asleep thinking of light blue eyes.

 

There's a universe somewhere where James Barnes met Sam Wilson as a scrappy 5 year old kid. They meet with scrapes on their knees and dirt on their noses. They grow up arm in arm. It doesn't take long for Bucky to realize he’s fallen in love with his best friend. It ends up taking Sam a few years longer than he's proud of to admit that he's in love with Bucky too. In this time Bucky moves away, branches out from his friend, tries to start anew. He's fueled by heartbreak and forces himself to forget that Sam Wilson ever existed. Sam manages to track Bucky down and it's something like out of a movie. They meet up again on a rain-soaked street. Bucky’s chest fills with a million emotions. They fall in love all over again anyway. This isn't that one.

 

The next time it happens, Sam’s out at a bar in Center City with his sister, Sarah. She's been telling him for weeks that he's seemed off. She’s been saying that she knows he's under a lot of stress. He's a full-time student at an Ivy League college on an academic scholarship. He's been doing homework and papers nonstop. She tells him that he deserves to cut loose just like anybody else. She reminds him that he's got nothing to prove. She's wrong. So he tells her.

“Sarah, a few weeks ago after dinner at mom’s I bumped into a guy on the EL.” 

She quirks an eyebrow at him. She's sitting on his bed in his dorm room, swinging her bare feet back and forth. 

“That sucks. Did he smell?”

Sam laughs weakly. “He did not. He was gorgeous. I'm telling you Sarah. I've never seen a guy that _beautiful_ before.”

“Did you get his number?”

“Nah.” He closes the textbook he's been pretending to read. He looks up at her and shrugs. “Didn't even get his name.”

“Okay, so?”

“Have you ever felt like you know someone from somewhere else?”

After he spills his guts she drags him by the arm downtown to a club hidden in a little alleyway. She pulls him through the snaking line of ID checks and cover charges into the main hall. There's lights shining and heavy bass pumping into his ears. It's a little overwhelming at first. Sarah and Sam order their overpriced drinks and go to the dance floor. 

When Sam first sees the guy he bumped into on the El again, he's silhouetted in dazzling purple and blue. 

Sam’s ears fill with muffled music when he spots him. He's on the dance floor with a redhead girl. Sam freezes in place, unable to keep his eyes off of the man in front of him. He's moving his hips in time with the girl in front of him. His big hand is placed on her hip to keep her close. His hair is tied back in a messy bun that shows off his high cheekbones. The song changes and he's instantly flooded with red and yellow light, making him appear golden on the dance floor. His light eyes flick up and search the crowd in front of him for a minute before they lock onto Sam’s face. At first he quirks his head to the right in wonder. Where do I know that guy? How do I know that guy? Sam can see as the realization hits the man. His eyebrows go up and a smile slowly overtakes his face. 

Sam can't help but smile back.

There's a universe somewhere where Sam and Bucky meet because their children are best friends. Bucky’s daughter can't stop talking about her best little girlfriend. She tells her father about how her best friend’s hair is the prettiest, how she's the smartest girl in the class. She begs Bucky to please, please let the two of them have a play date. Bucky says no out of fear. Their apartment is small and Bucky hasn't had any time to deep clean in too long. Being a single dad is hard work. Then one day he has to pick his daughter up instead of her taking the bus home and that's when he sees him. Sam’s the most beautiful guy he's ever seen. Their daughters introduce them and Sam’s voice is smoother than sugar. It makes Bucky more nervous than he was before. Sam insists that their girls finally have that play date and even though he's absolutely dying inside Bucky and his daughter go. They fall in love anyway. This isn't that one.

The guy whispers something in the redhead’s ear before she laughs and shoves him away. He staggers for a few steps then takes a deep breath and starts making his way through the crowd to Sam. He stops when their chests are almost touching. It's so crowded in the club that any further away would have been too far. Sam thinks he's still too far.

The guy smiles at him. “Hi.”

Sam lets out all the breath in his lungs. “Hi.” 

The guy reaches and interlaced their fingers together. Time and space screech to a halt. Warmth spreads from their connected fingers and digs itself deep into Sam’s soul. 

“Do you ever think..” The guy laughs and shakes his head. “Christ! Have you ever felt like you know someone, even though you haven't even met them?”

Sam nods. “Yeah.” Then he reaches out to cup the guy’s neck and pull him into a kiss. Sam’s eyelashes flutter shut at the feeling and the guy groans into his lips. It's hot and deep and everything Sam’s ever wanted in a kiss. The guy wraps both hands around Sam’s waist and pulls them flush. He lets go of Sam’s lips and leans over to Sam’s ear. 

“I don't even know your name!” He says it like he can't believe it. Sam can relate. He knows this guy in every fiber of his being but doesn't even know his goddamn name and-

“I'm Bucky, by the way.”

And oh, Bucky. Bucky what a strange name for his perfect stranger. Sam loves it.

“I'm Sam.”

They start kissing again.

They only stop kissing long enough to drink lots of vodka with the redhead and Sam’s sister. He can't stop touching Bucky, can't bear the thought of even letting go for just a second. There's something deep inside of his chest that clicked into place the first time they touched. Sam can't handle letting him go, not now, not ever.

The night grows older and the alcohol starts to really take effect on Sam. His vision is blurring around the edges and his words are running into each other and he just can't figure out when walking became so hard.

Then suddenly his side is cold and empty and “Where did Bucky go?” He asks as his sister shoves him into the back of a cab. He hears her give the address to his dorm in university city.

“He went home, Sam. You both drank too much. That redhead can fucking drink.”

“Oh okay.” Sam says. Because he's okay. He can just call Bucky and see him tomorrow.

It's when he wakes up that he remembers that he never got Bucky's number.

There's a universe when Sam and Bucky meet in the middle of war. They're trapped together in an enemy hideout. Prisoners. They spend their first few days bickering, resenting each other’s presence all together. They spend the next few days escaping, plotting, finding out their strengths and weaknesses. They manage to overpower their enemies on smarts and luck alone. They’re almost to safety when the bombs go off. Sam ends up waking alone in a hospital bed. His first words cry out for Bucky, pleading to know where he is. Bucky’s just two rooms down. He lost his left arm during the explosion but is okay as a prisoner of war can be. It takes days, weeks before Sam is allowed to see Bucky again. They comfort each other, heal together and learn how to become whole again. They fall in love anyway. This isn't that one.

Sam tried looking for Bucky on social media. He tries everything. He asks around campus. He asks his sister time and time again if she can remember any little detail that can bring Bucky back to him. He wallows, he cries, he buries himself in his studies. He gets a little lost.

The third time it happens is six months later. Sam’s never quite forgotten Bucky. He couldn't possibly do so. His dreams alone won't let him. He can't seem to rid himself of the nagging feeling in his chest, the feeling that he's missing something- missing someone important.

Sam’s just registered for his last semester of classes at UPenn. He's leaving the campus bookstore and heading to Starbucks for a treat when he sees him.

Bucky’s standing on the corner, laughing with a small blonde boy and the redhead girl from the club. Sam’s heart stops.

He’s desperately calling out for Bucky and running toward him before he can help himself. Bucky’s head snaps up at the sound of his name and suddenly he throws his messenger bag into the hands of the blonde boy and runs to meet Sam, arms stretched out wide. They collide a bit harder than either of them meant to. Sam pulls Bucky into him so tightly, fisting his hands into Bucky’s leather jacket. He's terrified of losing Bucky again. Maybe if he holds on tight Bucky can't get away this time. This stranger who he swears he knows down to his bones. Bucky’s doing the same, his grip on Sam is hard enough to hurt but Sam doesn't care. He's with Bucky again. He feels right. His soul has clicked into place once more.

“Oh my god.” He mumbles into Bucky’s neck. He realizes he's crying and sniffs. Bucky smells like everything good, like coming home.

Bucky paws at the back of his head, frantic. “Sam. Oh god Sam I thought I lost you!”

Sam leans back just far enough to cup Bucky’s face. “I don't know why the fuck you mean so much to me. I don't understand this one bit.”

Bucky's light eyes- the same ones from Sam’s dreams- are shining wet. “I know! I know!” He kisses Sam softly. Then pulls back and swears under his breath before leaning in and kissing him deeper. 

“Who’s that?” Sam hears the blonde boy ask.

“That's Bucky’s soulmate.” The redhead answers. 

There's a universe when Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes meet while they're both in college. Sam’s at the University of Pennsylvania studying his ass off to be a veterinarian. Bucky’s just around the corner at Drexel University, studying psychology. They take things as slow as they possibly can. They learn each other’s last names. They learn the ins and outs of each other. They date until they both graduate, then Bucky drops down on one knee in front of the LOVE statue at love park and asks Sam to marry him. It's cliche and silly but of course Sam says yes. They get married on a rooftop, surrounded by skyscrapers and their family and friends. They adopt their first child a year later, and their second two years after that. They have moments where things get rough. They have moments where they hate each other. But they always have each other. They fall in love over and over again every single day. This is that one.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you (as always) for reading! Find me on [ tumblr](unclesteeb.tumblr.com) and let's scream about sambucky together.


End file.
